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U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS

Storylines For 2010 WAPL
June 19, 2010
By Rhonda Glenn

Bittany Altomare, 20, of Shrewsburg, Mass., played a practice round for the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open with Lorena Ochoa. She just completed her freshman year at University of Virginia.

Rynae Baca, 16, of Wasilla, Alaska, has won the Alaska Women’ Amateur four times and was runner-up twice.

Michelle Bowles, 22, of Howell, Mich., has lived most of her life in Mexico and Colombia. She loves to travel.

Alexandria Buelow, 20, of Palm City, Fla., was 11 years old when she played in the 2001 U.S. Girls’ Junior, the youngest to qualify in 52 years.

Petra Cole, 24, of San Diego, Calif., has had eight holes-in-one.

Erica Creel, 21, of Kernersville, N.C., likes to wear her socks inside-out for good luck.

Diana Davis, 19, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., has a hot-pink putter, which she says is her lucky charm.

Victoria Fallgren, 19, of Lakewood, Calif., claims she can solve a Rubik’s cube in a startling two minutes.

Christy Fogerty, 19, of San Diego, Calif., has been playing the piano since she was four years old. She’s made five career holes-in-one.

Janine Fellows, 20, of Houston, Texas, is an avid fisherman and likes to fish before a tournament. She also helped re-start the women’s golf team at Tulane University following Hurricane Katrina.

Jaye Marie Green, 16, of Boca Raton, Fla., is the daughter of teaching professional Donnie Green. One of her hobbies is re-mixing songs using a special computer program and enjoys teaching herself songs on the piano.

Kathrina Hegge, 19, of Seattle, Wash., loves to coach basketball when she’s not playing golf.

Becca Huffer, 19, of Denver, Colo., says one of her most memorable golf moments came last year when she visited Ireland and played Ballybunion, Tralee, Old Head, Waterville and Kilarney.

Emily Houtz, 20, of Manhattan, Kan., plays on the Kansas State golf team with her twin sister, Elise.

Anna Jang, 18, of Alea, Hawaii, says if she’s lonely while practicing, she plays music and dances, though subtly, of course.

Alexa Kim, 21, a native of Seoul, Korea, who lives in Chandler, Ariz., speaks French and Spanish along with English and Korean, with her 16-year-old sister Anna Kim, who also qualified for this championship.

Stephanie Kono, 20, of Honolulu, Hawaii, says she has been told that she has a talent for being able to fall asleep anywhere. A member of the victorious 2010 USA Curtis Cup Team, Kono was a WAPL semifinalist in 2008. She has been an All-American her first two seasons at UCLA.

Stephanie Liu of St. Albans, Mo., has had a first-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do since she was 7.

Michelle Mathwick, 21, of Greenfield, Wis., a student at Drake University, made a hole-in-one two years ago during a scramble for which there was a $10,000 prize. She had to turn down the money in order to retain her amateur status.

Lisa McCloskey, 19, of Houston, Texas, recently transferred from Pepperdine University to the University of Southern California. She was born in Colombia and her parents live in Abu Dhabi. She graduated a year early from high school because of her parents’ move to the United Arab Emirates.

Kristina Merkle, 18, of Honolulu, Hawaii, can balance a golf club on her nose and juggle three golf balls at one time. At the 2008 WAPL held at Erin Hills, PGA Tour pro and Wisconsin native Jerry Kelly served as her caddie during stroke-play qualifying.

Gianna Misenhelter, 18, of Overland Park, Kan., played with Tom Watson at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open in 2008 at Pebble Beach Golf Links, site of this year’s U.S. Open, and says that walking up the 18th fairway with Watson on the tournament’s last day made her cry with the emotion of it.

Kelli Oride, 16, of Lihue, Hawaii, won the 2010 Hawaii Leadership Essay Contest and as a result was mayor of Lihue for a day. She’s had three holes-in-one but didn’t see the ball go into the hole on any of them.

Paige Osterloo, 20, of Rapid City, S.C., is a civil engineering major at Kansas State.

Caroline Powers, 19, of Bowling Green, Ohio, a freshman at Michigan State, says it’s lucky for her to wear green nail polish. She enjoys babysitting, playing beach volleyball and rollerblading.

Teresa Puga, 20, has represented Spain on its national team. She currently plays on the women’s golf team at the University of Minnesota.

Rachel Rohanna, 19, of Waynesburg, Pa., enjoys truck and tractor pulls as well as softball when she’s not playing golf. Her cousin Robert was a semifinalist at the 2007 U.S. Amateur Public Links.

Erica Schneider, 18, of Bradenton, Fla., competed in the Wal-mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach and played with comedian Bill Murray and PGA Tour professional Jeff Sluman. She also played boys’ ice hockey for six years.